Restaurants & Wifi

The other night we went out to dinner to celebrate my wife's birthday.  As the service was a little slow, the kids were getting impatient and dinner was beginning to be a nightmare.  Out then came the iPad and we discovered the restaurant had free WiFi!  Next thing you to thanks to the WiFi, combined with an iPad and Nexflix the fie year old was now entertained and it allowed for dinner to be a nice experience.  

This summer when we were driving to Canada from South Carolina (an 15+ hour drive), we often stopped at McDonalds because they offered free WiFi.  We would stop to check email, traffic reports, for local attractions and locations of playgrounds.  Twice during the trip, we booked our hotel room while eating a happy meal.  

Per McDonalds website: 

"We believe in bringing you innovative and convenient services that enhance your McDonald's restaurant visit, and Wi-Fi is a perfect example. As McDonald's continues to deliver fast and friendly food service at more than 30,000 convenient locations around the world, you can now enjoy the possibility of staying connected with friends, family and co-workers. Just find a Wi-Fi ready restaurant and you can check e-mail or chat with your friends while your kids are having fun in the Playplace. To access the Wi-Fi services in a restaurant, you need a Wi-Fi enabled device, such as a laptop or PDA." 

For more information see www.mcdonalds.com/wireless/find_hotspot.html.

This has gotten me thinking.  Why don't more restaurants offer this service?  It is a low cost option and a good way to keep your customers happy.  It drives business and if done correctly could present a world of marketing opportunities.